Things are starting to smooth out in my little corner of the world and I'm settling down a bit. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of my new job and things are going pretty well there. Last week my manager asked me to do some research on the wedding industry and come up with some book ideas for our wedding line. I came up with an idea I really liked, and my manager pitched it to the acquisitions board yesterday. They asked for some more information on it, but they didn't say no, and my manager and director both like the idea, so I'm taking that as a victory. Also, I was feeling like I was moving too slow on the cards book I've been working on, but I touched base with my manager on that and she was actually really happy with my progress, so I'm feeling better in that area. I'm getting to pick up more of the pieces of the whole process and I'm feeling like this is something I will be able to learn and hopefully do well. The first two weeks were so completely overwhelming because I've never worked in publishing and it seemed like a whole other language to me. Now I feel that even though it will be a long process, I will get there someday. I won't be getting any of my own books to work on for at least a month, so I have plenty of time to learn on other projects. I'm hesitant to type this, and I'll knock on wood as soon as I'm done, but I think I've finally found a job that I can be reasonably happy at. I've been out of school and in the job market for four years, and the jobs I've had have not been good matches. As a matter of fact, I've been pretty miserable at every job I've had since college. This job is so much closer to my interests and I still can't believe that they hired me. I know every job has it's bad days and unpleasant tasks, and this job will, too, but I'm being exposed to so many great ideas and talented people and so much inspiration. It's exciting to think that I may actually have a career now instead of a job. It's only been two and half weeks, so time will tell, but things are looking up. The only notable exception to the improvement in my work situation is that I am still sleep walking and having very vivid dreams about work almost every night. So neither Mark nor I are getting enough sleep. When I sleep walk or have very vivid, active dreams, it's not "quality" sleep and poor Mark is having to get up and chase around after me. Apparently I got very belligerent a few nights ago when he tried to convince me to come back to bed. I feel so bad for him, but I don't have any control over it. I'm hoping as I continue to settle in, the sleep walking with taper off. Either that or Mark will give up and handcuff me to the bed so he doesn't have to worry about me wandering off :-P

My fibery pursuits are also starting to go a little more smoothly. I'm almost done with the first of Mom's socks and I'm a few inches into Mark's. At first I wasn't very fond of the masculine colorway of the yarn Mark had picked for his socks, but the more I knit on the sock, the more I am enjoying it. It's making a sock that is very Mark-ish. But after knitting socks only for my mom and myself, his sock does seem freakishly large. I keep checking the measurments against the measurements I took from Mark and they're correct, but compared to the dainty lady-type socks I've been knitting, these seem like monsters! I hope he loves them!

I'm going to close this with a "what would you do?" I've already written about the neppy Polwarth roving I got while I was in Rhinebeck and how I asked for four ounces, but when I got to check out the label on the bag said that I was given six, but I just went ahead and bought it anyway because of how soft it was. Well, I had the scale out today and I have been thinking that the Polwarth didn't really look like six ounce worth of fiber and so I weighed it. And I have FOUR ounces. That's right, I asked for four ounces and I actually got four ounces, but the weigher-lady mislabelled it as six and I paid for six and ONLY GOT FOUR. I'm sure this was all an innocent mistake, so please don't think I'm trying to accuse anyone of trying to cheat me. The fiber was already expensive at $6/ounce, but taking in the kerfuffle, I actually ended up paying $9/ounce for very neppy roving. I'm upset about this. Well, okay, I'm grumpily frustrated about this and kind of pouting. I paid for $12 worth of fiber I didn't receive. This is not going to make or break me, but I could get another shawl's worth of fiber for $12. But then again, it is only $12 and an innocent mistake. Even though I know it was an accident, I feel kind of ripped off. So what would you do? Would you just let it go and try to learn a lesson? Would you contact the vendor just to give them the heads up? Would you contact the vendor for compensation? If you are a vendor, what would you want a customer to do? Please help me out here. I'm hoping having a night to sleep on it will make me feel better about the situation. Grump grump grump

As a fiber consumer and someone with friends who are fiber vendors, I can tell you two things: (1) the vendor should want to know (and most likely would want to know) if you are not satified with your transaction and, (2) you should want to know if the vendor is going to stand behind his/her/their product &/or customer service.

I would suggest calling or writing to let the vendor know the facts: (a) your receipt shows that you paid for 6 ounces of fiber but after checking it at home found you only received 4 ounces and (b) that while the fiber is delightfully soft, the processing is not satisfactory as you are finding lots of neps. Figure out if you want a refund or replacement and then ask for that.

If it is a reputible vendor, they will want you satisfied and will offer some way to make you whole. If they don't, well you have other places to spend your money that value you as a customer. (If you end up stuck with the fiber, dye the neppy fiber and needle felt it into holiday ornaments or wet felt it around soap to make a cute "no wash cloth needed soap" for holiday gifts to co-workers.)